Supplying packing machine or the like with cigarettes



Sept. 29, 1953 BERGMAN 2,653,723

SUPPLYING PACKING MACHINE OR THE LIKE WITH CIGARETTES Filed June a, 19515 sheets-sheet 1 L. BERGMAN Sept. 29, 1953 SUPPLYING PACKING MACHINE ORTHE LIKE WITH CIGARETTES Filed June 8, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 SUPPLYINGPACKING MACHINE OR THE LIKEWITH CIGARETTES Filed June 8, 1951 L. BERGMANSept. 29, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 29, 1953 SUPPLYINGPACKING MACHINE OR THE LIKE WITH CIGARETTES Lars Bergman, Stockholm,Sweden, assignor to Arenco Aktiebolag, Stockholm, Sweden, a jointstockcompany of Sweden Application June 8, 1951, Serial No. 230,500 In SwedenJune 28, 1950 3 Claims.

In the supply of packing machines with cigarettes it has been customaryto use transportable containers which, after having been emptied, areremoved as units from the machine for repeated filling. Since thecigarettes have to be stored for some days to be dried before they aredelivered to the packing machine a continuous work of the packingmachines has necessitated the use of a large stock of such completecontainers which involves a correspondingly expensive equipment of theplant. Also, such containers are provided with hinged bottoms or withslidable bottom plates which are removable lengthwise to empty thecontainers. This necessitates manual operation or a complicated andlarge machine construction and, furthermore, a reduction of the workingspeed of the packing machine.

It is an object of present invention to remove said drawbacks. Thus, oneobject of the invention consists in the reduction of the equipment forthe sup-ply of the cigarettes.

Another object of the invention consists in utilizing the provision forsuch reduction of equipment to enable the packing machine to run at anincreased speed.

A further object of the invention consists in utilizing the provisionfor such reduction to reduce the size of certain portions of themachine.

Still another object of the invention consists in utilizing saidreduction to facilitate the labour of the attendant of a machine or aplurality of machines running simultaneously.

Still another object of the invention consists in utilizing theprovision for such reduction to enable the cigarettes to discharge fromthe container evenly over the entire outlet area and even thoughslidable shutters are used.

The nature and characteristic features of the invention will be morereadily understood from the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical side view, partly in section, of the portion of acigarette packing machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view, partly in section taken on the line II-II ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically the travel of the cigarettecontainers in the machine;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged front view of a container for the cigarettes,partly in section, taken on the line IV-1V of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 5 is a side view, partly in section, taken on the line V-V of Fig.4.

Referring to the drawings, the machine has a conveyor comprising twoendless chains I run ning over idle sprocket wheels 2 and drivingsprocket wheels 3, one of which is in part broken away in Fig. 1. Thesprocket wheels 3 are secured to a shaft 4. The chains 1 are equippedwith ratchet teeth 6 which serve as impellers for advancing thecontainers. Each container is composed of an open box 9 having anintegral top plate H and a channel-shaped wall plate 8 serving as acover for said box. The wall plate 8 is secured to a base 5 having apair of slide bars 3| adapted to travel in guide rails l in the machine.A plate It! is slidably mounted in grooves 33 in the slide bars 3| andserves as a removable bottom of the container when composed of the wallplate 8 and box 9. The ratchet teeth fi engage the slide bars 3| toadvance the containers on the rails 1.

At the right hand end of the conveyor, at A, the wall plate 8 isinserted into a holder 24 whereby it is directed obliquely downwardly.Thereby its base 5 rests on side plates 28 on the holder 24 which has arear bar for supporting the box 9 and is turnably mounted on a pin 25.In this position the inverted channel-shaped wall plate 8 receives a box9 filled with cigarettes. Thus, the box 9 is, with its top plate llturned downwards, pushed into the wall plate 8 between same and the bar84 of the holder 24, serving as a guide, inside a pair of blade springs21 secured to the wall plate 8 whereby a spring tensioned latch I2 onthe holder 24 snaps over the top plate ll of the box. Thereafter, thebar 84 of the holder 24 together with the assembled container 8, 9 areby means of handles 32 swung upward into the position shown in fulllines to the right in Fig. 1 and delivered to the conveyor I. Theconveyor l moves stepwise in the direction of the arrow P1 so that thecontainers 8, 9 are successively moved into the position at B above ahopper l3. When the container has reached this position its bottom plate10 is expelled from the container so that the cigarettes drop into thehopper l3, whereafter they are distributed and packed in well knownmanner. The bottom plate I 0 is expelled by a pair of pistons eachconsisting of a yielding ratchet tooth l5 adapted to be yieldinglydepressed by the bottom plate 10 when the containers move over them. Theteeth I5 are each mounted on a slidable rod l6, which rods are eachpivotally connected to an arm l'l. Both the arms I! are secured to arotatable shaft 2| to which is secured another arm 22 provided with aroller IS. A tension spring 14 urges the roller 18 against a cam disc 20secured to a rotary shaft l9. To the shaft I 9 is secured a gear wheel29, partly broken away in Fig. 1, which meshes with a. gear wheel 30,partly broken away in Fig. 1, secured to the shaft 4.

When the container 8, 9 has reached its position at B above the hopperII! the cam disc 20 allows the spring I4 to advance the rods [6 quicklyso that the bottom plate I0 is pushed forwardly into the grooves 33 inthe slide bars 3| of the preceding emptied container occupyin theposition at C. Thereby the plate l0 moves past a pair of yielding latchmembers 26 on swinging them upwardly. The members 26 prevent the plateI0 from recoiling when having been introduced into the container at C.Since the bottom plate [0 is ejected quickly from the wall plate 8 ofthe filled container and since it moves transversely to said wall plate,i. e. longitudinally of the cigarettes, the cigarettes will dropsimultaneously into the hopper, viz. evenly over the entire outlet areaof the container. Since the movements for the ejection of the plate l0are short it can be effected fully automatically and by means requiringa minimum of space. Since the bottom plate [0 of a filled contalner isintroduced into the wall plate 8 of the preceding emptied container thebottom plates ill will circulate in the machine together with the wallplates 8. Thus, the empty container at C is displaced, laterally onto atable 23, upon which it is moved back in the direction of the arrow P2.When this container, still being closed, has reached the position at Dit is moved, laterally into the holder 24 in the initial inclinedposition at A where the empty box 9 is pulled out of the cover or wallplate 9 and a filled box is inserted into same as aforesaid. The emptyboxes 9 removed at A are transferred to a cigarette machine or anotherstation where they are filled anew and stored for some time. Thereafterthey are again supplied to the packing machine in the manner asdescribed. The relatively heavy wall plates 8 comprising the bases 5 andthe bottom plates I0 loosely inserted therein will not be removed fromthe machine, wherefore the manual labour will be facilitated and theplates II will not unintentionally drop out of the containers. Thus, thelight boxes 9 only consisting of sheet metal or another material thatmay be still lighter, e. g. artificial resin, are removed from themachine. Only a relatively small number of wall plates including bases 5and bottom plates l0 needs to be used. While a large number of 4 boxes 9has to be stored the costs for such an equipment will be by far lessthan the costs for a corresponding number of complete containers.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. In a cigarette packing machine, a cigarette receiver, a holderadapted to receive a container wall plate having a slidable bottom plateand a box filled with cigarettes to be assembled to form a cigarettecontainer, means for delivering the assembled container to saidcigarette receiver, an expeller operative at said cigarette receiver toeject said bottom plate from a filled container to discharge thecigarettes into said receiver, and means for actuating said expeller totransfer said ejected bottom plate from said container to the wall plateof an adjacent emptied container.

2. In a cigarette packing machine, a cigarette receiver, a holderadapted to receive a container wall plate having a slidable bottom plateand adapted to receive an open box filled with cigarettes to form anassembled cigarette container, means for delivering the assembledcontainer to said cigarette receiver, an expeller operative at saidcigarette receiver to eject said bottom plate from a filled container todischarge the cigarettes into said receiver, means for actuating saidexpeller to transfer said ejected bottom plate from said container tothe wall plate of an adjacent emptied container and means for returningthe empty containers to the holder.

3. In a cigarette packing machine, a cigarette receiver, a holderadapted to receive a container wall plate having a slidable bottom plateand adapted to receive an open box filled with cigarettes to form anassembled cigarette container, means for delivering the assembledcontainer to said cigarette receiver, an expeller operative at saidcigarette receiver to eject said bottom plate from a filled container todischarge the cigarettes into said receiver, a cam, and a spring adaptedto urge said expeller against said cam, said cam being adapted toperiodically allow said spring to advance said expeller to transfer saidejected bottom plate from said container to the wall plate of anadjacent emptied container and to retract said expeller against theaction of said spring.

LARS BERGMAN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

